This invention relates in general to an improvement in the secured pen and pen holder arrangement disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,596 issued Jan. 2, 2001.
This invention relates primarily to three specific improvements in the invention described in said ""596 patent. Thus, the disclosure of the ""596 patent is incorporated herein by reference. Comparable reference numbers will be used where feasible in order to facilitate cross-reference.
In the ""596 design, the transport element 24 is free to rotate when the pen and pen holder is in its use state, which is the state wherein the user would be using the pen. Transport element rotation could cause an alignment which would facilitate accidental, or even intentional, removal of the pen.
Furthermore, in that ""596 design, the cover is substantially free to rotate. This requires careful positioning of the cover when replacing the pen and can also result in a distracting jolting of the tether when the pen is in use.
There is also the possibility when the pen is pulled hard enough, that the stop of the pen can wedge into the slot 40 in the base making it difficult to move the pen from its use state to its replacement state.
Accordingly, it is a purpose of this invention to provide features that will reduce or eliminate the above three problems.
It is a related purpose of this invention to provide these improvement features without detracting from the security and use facility of the invention disclosed in the ""596 patent.
In brief, three main improvement features are involved.
A tab on the inner surface of the cover is at a position that is approximately opposite (180 degrees) from the opening in the cover sidewall that accommodates the tether of the pen. A channel defined by an inner sidewall in the base holds the cover tab and permits rotation of the cover between a pen replacement state and a pen installation position. Stops at the ends of the channel determine the scope of the cover rotations. Notches or openings at the ends of the channel resiliently hold the cover in position until sufficient force is applied to snap the tab out of the notch in which it is received.
One of the two base notches engages the tab so as to hold the cover in the replacement state which is the position where the pen is being replaced. The other notch is positioned so as to hold the cover in the installation position. The installation position is the position of the cover in the use state. The use state is achieved when, as described below, the transport is rotated to be engaged by a spring. In the use state, the transport wall locks the stop at the end of the tether into a recess in the base, the pen is securely held for use.
A spring on the inner wall of the base is positioned to engage an opening in the transport wall so that when the transport is rotated to provide a use state, the spring will resiliently engage the transport wall opening. Accordingly, movement of the transport will require a forcible enough twist to overcome the resilient holding of the spring in the wall opening and the transport will feel, to the typical user, as if it were fixed in place.
The stop at the end of the tether, which holds the tether of the pen in the base, is reconfigured. Specifically, instead of the tether stop in the shape of a ball, the stop has a flat outwardly facing surface that engages the wall of the recess in the base so that pulling on the tether will not wedge the stop into adjacent openings that accommodate the tether.